Field of the Disclosure
The following is directed to abrasive articles, and particularly, abrasive articles including agglomerates including silicon carbide and an inorganic bond material.
Description of the Related Art
Grinding of titanium has proven to be difficult and various types of bonded abrasive articles have been contemplated. U.S. Pat. No. 2,216,728 discloses the formation of aggregates of a plurality of smaller grains of diamond or boron carbide held in the aggregate by a bond which may be a metal, clay, glass or an organic polymer. The method of formation of the aggregates will vary slightly depending on the nature of the bonding medium employed. If metal is the bond then the metal powder and fine abrasive particles, e.g. diamond, are mixed together and hot pressed at a temperature of from 700° to 1500° depending on the metal used. Ceramic bonded aggregates are made by mixing about 5% clay with 95% fine abrasive grain with the usual liquid to give the mixture the needed consistency. The mix is then fired at for example 1250° C. to vitrify the clay bond.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,071 discloses bonded particles of very fine crystalline alumina having a particle size of less than 5 microns. Abrasive pellets of various cross sections are formed by extruding mixtures of fine alumina particles and a bond, cutting the extrudate at the desired size, and firing the green pellets. The bond is a silicate glass which has a final fired weight composition of 10-25% alumina, 50-70% silica, 5-15% calcia, 10-20% magnesia, and up to about 3% impurities. The fired pellets are bonded into a grinding wheel and used to snag grind stainless steel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,746 discloses prebonded abrasive aggregates made up of fine particles of an abrasive material such as alumina or silicon carbide bonded into the larger abrasive particles by a resin or polymer. Aggregate particles of different strengths are made by incorporating various types and amounts of filler materials in the resin or polymer binder used to hold the fine abrasive particles together to form the larger abrasive agglomerates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,774 discloses a vitreous bonded abrasive grinding wheel for grinding of titanium-containing materials. The wheel includes silicon carbide abrasive grain, hollow ceramic spheres, and a low temperature, high strength bond. The wheel apparently has improved performance characteristics due to a lowered content of lithium oxide in the bond and use of ceramic pore formers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,384 discloses an abrasive product for grinding titanium metal and its alloy. The product used to grind the titanium consists of a grinding wheel wherein the abrasive grains are aggregates of silicon carbide particles bonded together with a refractory bond such as silicon oxynitride or a silicate based material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,326 discloses a vitreous bonded abrasive grinding wheel for grinding of titanium-containing materials. The wheel includes a blend of silicon carbide and alumina abrasive grain.
The disclosed abrasive aggregates are also utilized with the more conventional type abrasive grains such as fused crushed alumina, alumina-zirconia and the like, including silicon carbide, boron carbide and the diamond.